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Mrs. Jefferson Davis 




Picture of Mrs. Davis, taken just before her last illness (Insert) 
f'opy of water-color painting of Mrs. Davis made in AVasliington just be- 
fore th© war. 



..lUtN NAME 
0FV..3.JEFFEfiS0NDIIV!S 




Ma-- Called Varina liaiiks fo 
mate Friend of Her 
Molher. 



Inti- 



srGNATLKK OFTEN MISLEAUING 

Vctter V. Says H. D. Allen, Was Used ! 
to Sip;nif,v Veuve, the French Woi-d 
for M'Idou, t'ustomary in Mis'^is- 
slppl Country. 

in H. D. ,M-LK\. 
noaton. lilaKH. 

X'aniia! 'IJhe name g:iven by Jonathan 1 
Kwfft. 1667-1745 (Dep.n Swift, author of' 
'Gulliver's Travel^"/, to a Miss "VVar- 
tiis. whose brother he had known 
earlier at Trinity College, Dublin, who 
vefused to marry him, on account of 
»>'s poverty and her poor health. 

X'arinal A short distance below 
l>utch G.ip. on the left shore, is the 
fi'.nious old plantation known as Va- 
rina. Few places on the lower James 
ftivor In ^■irginla possess more historic 
interest than -this grand old farm. 

The name also is said to have been 
Jerived from a variety of Spanish to- 
bacco called Varinas. Varina was- once 
the home of John Rolfe and his Indian 
tride Pocahontas. It was also the i 
ftonie of Rev. William Stith, and it { 
••as here that he wrote liis "History i 
" Virginia.'" 
There seems to be a great difference i 
of opinion in tlie South regarding the 
maiden name of Mrs. Jefferson Davis. 
After considerable research work, 1 
>iave found evidence whicf? I believe 
irinot be successfully broken down. 
- a contribution to the history of the 
southland, T venture to liope that t'ne 
data ill regard to Mrs. Davis in this 
article will be copied by every South- 
ern r.ewspaper, as it gives facts not to 
he- found ^n any biographical work.? or 
stories. 
rtAXDFATHEa GOVEaNOR 

OP XEW JI^RSEY 
N'arina Banks Howell was the daugh- 
icr of William Burr Howell and Mar- 
garet Ivouisa Kempe Howell. She was 
born on May 7, 1S26. Her paternal 
scrandfather was Governor Richard 
Howell, of Xew Jersey. Her maternal 
grandfather was James Kempe. an 
Irish gentleman, who came to Virgin!:-. 
..-(flcr the Emmett rebellion. She was 
named for T\\rs. Varina . Stanton Banks, 
live wife of George Banks, of Natchez, 
MisB. Mrs. Banks was one of the de- 
voted friends of Varina's mother, Mrs. 
William Burr Howell, and she war< 
given the name of Varina Banks as ; 
compliment onlj'. No part of tha nanif^, 
'^e^efo^e. comes from either the P.'irt 
MoLiell branches of tile fainii 
nrc)l)ahle thai Vat'n!; Jiad no sn'- 
Intcr^^st In Mra.iBankfr. ar"* BO «J ecial 
. king for the i-.wne Lianks. c^nd ilns 



She niat'rWRt''J.eU'eC3oii f^^ 
vuary JH. 1845, and "Th- IJriars," where 
the marriage tOoK phu ' . still is stand- 
ing (December, 191h) about a mile 
south of Natchez, on a \)luff overlook- 
ing the river. Tlie marriage record 
.shows "Jefferson Davi.s. William B. 
Howell, Varina,wHoweIl, ' with the nan'(«< 
of the ministeiC VVbHe the public life 
of the Davis family was one lor.^ 
.storm, thoir private life w.;iM full of 
peace and sunshine By ]\fy lo.Mng 
ministrations and intellectual .oii'pan- 
lonship she greatlj- eontr11>uled to en- 
able Mr. Davis to achieve that career 
wliich has made his name imr.iortal 
AVhen overcome by misfortune,, she met 
I he inevitable like the true i/aughtc-r 
of a noble sire. 
FICVATLRE !»ll<2.AN'l' 

"M IDOW .lEFFERSiOA DWIS 

Mr.';;. Davis, after the death of her 
husband, often signed her name "V. 
..fcfferaon Davis," the "V" being the 
'initial letter of "veuve." the French 
•iiord for "widow." This is a custom 
in th> South, in the New Orleans and 
^lobile region and in the. lower Mis- 
.sissippi countrj-. Her signature, when 
«o shown, means "Widow Jefferson 
Davis," and not Varina Jefferson Davis, 
as so ma.iy Southern historians slate. 
One historian sa\s her name was 
A'arina Jefferson Howell. This, of 
"bourse, Is impossible. It is a very 
singular fact that the records of, the 
Chancery Court at Vicksburg, Miss., 
.■?how- that she signed her will a.s 
\'arina Jefferson Davis, which must 
have been an inadvertence and could 
n«»t have been correct. The proper 
l"eral signature for such a document 
would have been Varina Banks Howell 
Da^'is. 

In; connection with m\- hi.'5toriral 
notes on Confederate money, to go 
with the collection 1 am assembling 
for the Bfookline Public Library, 1 
-wish to give one of many illustrations 
of th* friendly feeling and co-opera - 
ition of the South in any efforts to 
make a, notable contribution to the 
history of the Southland. For a long 
time ] haA'e been needing a photo- 
graph, and the autograph of Clement 
Claiborne Clay, whose portrait adorns 
the $1 bill of 15'6.3-64. I wrote to the 
"Mayor of Huntsville, Ala. (1 do not 
> et know his name, event, and, after 
outlining my work, asked his assist- 
ance. He turned ni\' letter over to- 
^trs. Milton Chapman Humes, of that 
cltj-, who sent ine the much-wanted 
autograph, also a picture, which prove.s 
lo be a remarkable and comparatively 
unknown group picture showing the 
lat« President Jefferson Davis and late 
C. C Cla>-. The picture was the prop- 
erty of Mrs. C. C. Clay, who died ,if 
HuntsviHe. Ala., in July, ISIS, at the 
age of nhiety-two years. 

5TRA\f;i'. i\s<'Riprif>\ 

0\ BACK OK I'HOTOCiRAPH 

On ih' bacij of thi-- photograph is 






the following remarkable inscrll 
the handwriting of Mrs. Clay: 
The Martyiiw. 
"Photos of Jefferson Davis. ex-Ci 
dent of the Southern Confederacy, 
Clement Claiborne Clay. ex-Un 
States Senator, ex-Confederate Seni 
and ex-Peace Commissioner to Can; 
where Horace Greeley met him, but 
peace, T caught them on the ^ini 
Memphis. Tenn., and forced them 
street attire to give me the prom 
picture. wMiich I call the Martyrs 
twins. Neither photo does justic« 
the originals, both being very hs 
some men of the highest intellec 
type, (Signed) Virginia Carolina < 
wife ',of C- C. Clay." 

It thus appears that Mrs. Cli 
braced a golden opportunity to,1 
a fine group photograoh, wh^ 
or tha other of the gentlemf 
promised htr. I still ne^^d phot< 
of John C. Calhoun, George V 
dolph, and Mrs. Governor Pic 
.S'outh Carolina, and written si 
of John C. Calhoun, Ston ?wall 
Mrs. Jefferson Davis, George 
dolph and Mrs. Governor P 
South Carolina. T do not dc 
shall finally, by the aid o 
friends, bo able to finisb * 
posed task, whiv^h is whollj 
love and has meant an ex 
time \nd mv>nc>- when its 
be absolutely frf^ for r 
cany. . ^^^ 

As tc the autograph v>f Mrs. . 
son Davis, I need one i.n either 
following fo.-ms: J 

Varii.a howellt Varin^a Banks How 
Vaiiiii' p.. If. Howell.v^ Vaiina Bat 
Davis. Var'na Banks NhowcII D?.' 
V'uriv ;i ll.iwol! l)M\is. \'a.'ina JctVer: 
Davi 



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